Plucked too Soon
by NotSoPrimandProper
Summary: This sequel to Not all Flowers Bloom follows Dahlia Mallerk as she tries to cope with love, loss and the rise of a new rebellion. Will the Mallerk family make it through together or will Katniss and Peeta lose the only family they have left?
1. Prologue

I wake up with a gasp, realizing that it was only a nightmare. I feel Katniss stir next to me.

"Peeta" she mumbles. During the night, she had curled herself into me and now I feel her breath on my chest. I stroke her hair lightly.

"Go back to sleep Darling." She says my name again and her lips turn up into a smile. That's when I realize, she's dreaming about me. I laugh to myself, knowing she would never believe this if I told her. I squeeze her a little closer comforted that nightmares have escaped one of us tonight.

It's been the same nightmare since the incident in the capitol. I come home one night to find the house completely destroyed and my family gone. The heart wrenching pain I felt thirty years ago returns as I search through the rubble for my family. My past seems to haunt me with each discovery. I sometimes find my brothers, my parents or my grandfather the same way I found them after the destruction of district 12 during the rebellion. I always try to will myself to wake up at this point, but my mind refuses to let me escape my greatest fear. I continue to search till I find them; Katniss, Dahlia and Jon's lifeless bodies in front of me. The realization that I have failed to protect my family again overwhelms me and I crumple to the floor in grief. Right before my head hits the floor, I'm jolted back to reality.

"That wasn't real Peeta, this is." Shaking off my nightly reminder of what is and isn't real, I hold tight to Katniss. I vowed to be there for her and protect her and our children. A vow I planned to keep. Dipping my head down, I whisper in her ear.

"Always." She shifts slightly and her eyes flutter open to meet mine. I look into those familiar grey eyes and smile. She smiles back and begins to move in for a kiss when the communicator rings and interrupts our moment. I pick it up somewhat annoyed.

"Mallerk residence" I mumble into it. The familiar clicking of a secure line hit my ear followed by the pleasant voice of a female operator.

"Voice recognition confirmed. Hello Mr. Mallerk. General Mason requests to speak with you." He replies immediately.

"Please let her know I will be ready in 5 minutes." The operator types something in, before responding.

"Yes sir. We will call you back in 5 minutes." I hang up the communicator and look at my wife who is anxiously awaiting an answer to who could have called us in the middle of the night.

"Its just Joanna. She probably wants to give us an update. I just wish she'd figure out the time difference." It wasn't the first time we had been awoken by a high security call from Joanna or Paylor. As mayor I had called both women at strange times too, so I understood the accidental late night calls. Katniss however, would often hang up and wait for them to call later.

I move to get out of the bed, but Katniss wraps her arms around me.

"Don't go. They'll call back later." She kisses my neck then my collarbone, melting my resolve a little.

"I won't take long," I finally manage to say. I gently unwrap her arms and get out of bed. She props herself up on her elbow as I get dressed. When I turn to face her, she's staring at me with the look I've seen so many times before. Being together so long, I can read her expressions and subtle looks. I answer it with a kiss and a reply.

"I love you too."

What a difference 10 minutes makes, I think to myself as I hang up the communicator. 10 minutes ago, I was in bed with my wife, professing my love. Not knowing that she was keeping a huge secret from me. Joanna rattled it out, realizing too late that I should not have known. But it was out and soon everyone would know too. A group of captured soldiers had been returned to headquarters. One of which was Asher Hawthorne, who until 2:00 this morning had been assumed dead. I then asked the question that started it all.

"When are they coming home?" There was silence at first and then Joanna said. "Katniss and I have decided its best for Soldier Hawthorne not to return home." At that I almost lost it. I never yell or raise my voice but this statement had me outraged. Who were they to separate a child from his family. Joanna let me rattle off a little longer before responding.

"They have been hijacked." The word snaps me back to the present and I stay quiet through the rest of the brief. When she finishes I hear her tentatively call my name. Without responding I hang up.

I stare at the family picture, now questioning if it is even real. Katniss did not want Asher to come back because she thought it would be to hard on Dahlia. Why; because my coming back was too hard on her. I ask the question out loud;

"Real or not real, Katniss wanted you to come back." I fail to find the answer. Anger starts to build and I fight to keep control. I try to rationalize to myself the glint off the metal objects is not possible without sun or that I am sitting upright not at a tilt, but it doesn't stop it from happening. I glance at the picture again and see the mutant dog hovering over my children, I throw the picture at a lamp and watch them both shatter before I regain control.

The crash was loud enough to be heard throughout the house. I walk over and lock the door, giving myself time to calm down, before either Katniss or the children come to investigate. Pressing my hand into the corner of the desk, I try forcing the pain to over ride the surging rage. A part of me knew it wouldn't be enough. It wasn't because of what Katnis called "Not her Peeta" had taken over. But because the real Peeta was just as angry at her. It was pure torture that the one person I needed to sort this out was also the person I hated more then anything in the world.

The movement of the door handle alerted me to someone's presence. "Peeta! Peeta are you alright?" Katniss was clearly worried as she began to bang on the door.

"Go away." I growled at her, but the change in my voice clued her in to what was going on and she started to throw her weight into the door.

It only took 3 hits before the lock gave way and the door swung open. I had tried to place myself behind the desk as a barrier, but Katniss was not concerned with the danger of getting close to me.

"Don't come any closer." I yelled harshly, stopping her in her tracks. She looked at me with pity, which infuriated me more. I stabbed my hand into the desk corner until it started to bleed.

"Real or not real Peeta! Katniss Everdeen is your wife." She yelled suddenly. The words had worked and I became alert enough to reply.

"Real." She continued and took a step forward.

"We have two beautiful children; Dahlia and Jonathan."  
"Real." My voice began to return to its normal tone and I felt my emotions start to level. She was only a few feet away when she asked the next question.

"You love me real or not real?" I pause for a long time while I think about it. I without a doubt love Katniss. I think back to the several times I've said it over the years. What stops me from answering is the few times I remember her saying it to me.

"Peeta?" She says uncertain. I look back at her with clear confusion on my face.

"You never say it to me. Do you really love me?" The pain my words inflict is clear on her face as she responds.

"Of course I love you. Always." Throwing caution to the wind, she rounds the desk and hugs me. I am unable to hug her back however, not until she can answer the question that's been on my mind.

"Katniss, Asher Hawthorne was found alive this morning. Joanna let slip, your plans for him if he had been kidnapped." Her head whips up in surprise. "Real or not real; you wanted me back after I was hijacked." She pauses before responding as if she didn't know what to say. Big mistake.

"DADDY!" I crash back to reality to see Dahlia screaming at me while she holds her brother back. When I look down, Katniss is pinned under me, now gasping for breath. Red marks and blood encircle her neck and I instinctively reach for her. She flinches away before she can stop herself. I quickly get up and back myself behind my desk. I follow the bloodstains and am relieved to find that it's only my blood. I look back up to see my wife trying to push the children out, but they are clearly afraid to leave her alone with me.

"My children are afraid of me." I mumble. There is a sinking feeling when I realize the family that I wanted so much, that I want to protect is most in danger of me. When Katniss finally pushes the kids into the hallway, I run out the office and head for the door. In the time it takes me to put on my shoes, Katniss has caught up to me. Without turning around I talk to her.

"I would have wanted you no matter what."

"I know." She responds a little teary. My heart breaks as I realize that even after 30 years, she never loved me as much as I loved her.

"Stay with me." I hear the need behind her request but this time I can't be there for her. I finally turn to look at her and see the tears running down her face. I keep my distance as I tell her what took me so long to figure out.

"I guess you were right Katniss. It was a mistake for us to have children. To ever think we could be a family."

"No Peeta!" She rushes towards me but I rush out the door. I run out of Victor's village without any idea of when I will return.


	2. Chapter 1

One piece of thread; why is it so important? One piece could unravel the sleeve of a shirt. One piece can pull apart a bag. One piece could fray an entire blanket. We know that pulling the string could cause more damage but we do it anyway; I know I did. I could have just listened to my mom and not gone to the capitol, but no. I pulled the string and ever since then, things have started to unravel.

School was the first thing to fall apart. Rumors spread quickly about what had happened between me and Asher. Every rumor made me the cause of his death. Some said he followed me into a trap. While others claimed I killed him with my bare hands. The rumors were started by, none other then, Queen Jane and her snobby friends. Her newest BFF however fueled the rumors. It was Asher's sister and my ex-best friend, Elle. Not only would she not refute a single rumor, but when she heard one, she would shrug and just say 'sounds possible.' I never realized how unbearable school was without her. But again, I didn't know how unbearable it would be without Asher either.

Without Asher there was no one there to stand up for me at school. There was no one to goof off with at the bakery. There was no one to walk me home from the woods 'for my own safety.' There was not much happiness without Asher. Even though I now avoided most of the places that reminded me of him, I still couldn't stop thinking about him. Nor could I stop the ache I felt in my heart every time I thought about him.

Since I no longer had school, the bakery or any semblance of friends, I relied on my very dysfunctional family. Each of them were taking the news of the new rebellion in their own way. Aunt Joanna took the hands on approach and put the whole family on lockdown. We now have 24-hour security at our home and personal bodyguards. I'm not going to say I knew she was going to over-react, but yeah I kinda did.

Uncle Haymitch took to the bottle. He went from the holiday drunk uncle to just the drunk uncle. He became very unreliable and my parents, who usually reeled him in were MIA.

With the new threat, they had taken on leadership roles against the rebellion. Dad has been working with the mayor and the district's peacekeeper captain to protect district 12 against any rebellion attack. His extra time goes to checking in at the bakery. Mom just hasn't been around. At the request of Paylor and Miss Effie, she went on a speaking tour across Panem, to reassure citizens the rising rebellion will not succeed. I see her more on TV and in papers than I do in person. We do try to have family dinners every couple of weeks but those stopped after dad's breakdown.

Breakdown. I don't know if that's the appropriate word. Maybe anger snap…rage fest…episode of fury are all more appropriate. I'll admit I was scared afterwards. I had seen those huge black eyes before and they belonged to someone trying to kill mom. But this was dad…my dad…the great and kind Peeta Mellark. He was not a violent man and he loved my mother. Yet I saw him strangle her and then flee; taking the last solid thread of my life with him.

After that our family unraveled pretty quickly. It led to the inevitable family discussion, I knew would not end well. First dad came in, after a week absence. Then the two of them talked alone before coming into the living room where Jon and I were sitting.

They got our attention by standing in front of us. Mom began a bit nervously; "We want to start by saying that no matter what, we love both of you very much."

Yeah this was going to be bad. Whenever someone starts with that you know it's not going to be good…well almost everyone. Jon has been delightfully oblivious to our family's unraveling, even after dad's freak out. When I glance at him and he has a confused look on his face. I look back at mom and notice she is fighting to get her next words out. Finally dad cuts in.

"Your mother and I have decided to separate. We feel it's best for the two of us and safer for the family this way."

There is silence as their words sank in. Jon took the news well…at least for a minute. Then he jumps up and starts shouting. I'm pretty sure a part of his tirade was just sounds and grunts. He finishes by yelling that he hates both of them and storms out. When my parents tried to yell after him, demanding he come back and talk, I finally lose my temper.

"Running out? Huh…I wonder where he got that from."

My mother glares at me.

"You are out of line!" Mom warns. I glare back just as menacing. We haven't fought since we returned from the capitol but I guess some habits die hard.

"How can you say that?" I yell back. "When dad ran out, you spent the rest of the night searching for him. Since then you've been in this fog. And I hear you at night mom. Not just the terrors but the cry…"

"Enough Dahlia!" She says with finality. "We will talk about this when Jonathan and I return." She turns around and heads out after Jon while my dad and I sit in the living room in silence.

"Are you okay honey?" I look at him incredulously. He has the decency to look ashamed.

"Just swell dad." I say sarcastically. I stand up and start walking to my room. "I'll be in my room if…"

"Dahlia wait. There's something else we wanted to tell you." I turn around expecting some practiced speech about how Jon and I will be okay and they'll still be here for us. Instead he sits there staring at his hands and looking very unsure. Finally the words spill out.

"They found him. Asher is alive."


	3. Chapter 2

The funny thing about insomnia is that you can't go to sleep when you should but since your body needs it you will eventually pass out somewhere. For me it was school. Unfortunately for me it was during a test. I had one of my recurring nightmares. It's of the two soldiers mom killed and the mutant dogs burning. In the dreams, however they aren't evil. The mutant dogs are human, the soldiers are just following orders and they all beg and plead for mercy; they always plead. Then Asher appears beside me saying he'll be right back before walking into darkness. I try to follow him, but something keeps me there and I'm forced to watch the guards and mutant dogs suffer instead of chasing after Asher, yelling after him not to go. I jerk forward when mom's gun finally goes off and find myself on the floor of my classroom. I'm met by stares and a couple of snickers, as I pull myself back into my desk chair. It takes a minute to realize that class is over and we have to hand in our tests. I look down at my test and see that I didn't get past the second question. Slowly, I drudge to the front of the room with my test and place it on the pile, before turning to leave.

"Miss Mellark please stay, for a minute." I turn back to face Mrs. Oberlin. She is looking down disapprovingly at my exam. She shakes her head, probably realizing what the rest of my teachers already discovered; I'm a lost cause.

"You are one of the most creative, talented and intelligent students I have had in this classroom. So how is it that you can go from being class valedictorian and first freshman invited to the Capitol competition in five years, to the person who hands in this?" She lifts up my exam. I look at it and hang my head knowing I can't even begin to defend my lack of work. She lowers the paper and says a little quieter. "When I grade this test you will fall below passing for the quarter. Even if you aced the next few assignments, you would still not pass." I kept looking down, taking in her words. She takes a deep breath and says. "I really don't want to fail you Dahlia. A failing grade in arithmetic will not look good when you apply for healer training." I merely nod, not mentioning the fact that I gave up on that dream. "That is why I'm going to give you a chance to do some extra credit." She takes out a pass, scribbles something down and hands it to me. I immediately see it's a pass to the school shrink. " Finish the last few assignments, go for two sessions with the psychologist and I will count that as enough extra credit for you to pass."

"Thank you." I say immediately, knowing she's giving me a chance to redeem myself. Before I leave she adds.

"Dahlia…talk to someone about what your feeling."

I run my fingers along the lines of lockers as I walk down the hall, thinking about what Mrs. Oberlin said. 'Talk to someone.' Such a simple request, but how can I put into words all that I'm feeling. How can I talk about Asher when I don't even know if he is dead or alive? The slamming of a locker interrupts my thoughts. I look up and realize I automatically walked to Elle's locker. She's standing in front of her locker sorting her books. I quickly move towards her before she can run off.

"Elle" I call. She jumps at her name and quickly turns to me. As soon as she recognizes my face, a mask of anger comes up. "Please." I beg before she turns away. "Is it true? Is he alive?"

She looks into my eyes and lets her school façade fall for a short moment. Past the make-up, new clothes and attitude, my best friend was there looking back at me. She steps closer and opens her mouth to say something but then just as quickly closes her mouth and steps back.

"Ugh! What are you doing talking to this loser?" I immediately cringe at Jane's voice. She sidles up next to me, staring intently at Elle. Elle quickly returns to her mean girl demeanor and replies.

"I wasn't. I was too busy mentally passing judgment to hear anything she said."

Jane, more then pleased at that laughs and adds in a few more jokes at my expense. I let myself zone out to avoid listening. My thoughts wander to Asher. It's been two days since my dad dropped that bomb on me and I still don't know if it's true. That's when a thought occurs to me. There is one person I can always rely on to tell me the truth, but to talk I have to get home. School was once again put on the back burner as I walk away from Jane and Elle in the middle of a particularly funny joke (well funny to them) and out the doors of the school.

I move quickly but not so quickly that I didn't hear footsteps close behind me. Suddenly I am alert and paranoid I am being followed. I take a few quick turns that lead in a circle, half expecting the footsteps to disappear. Instead they grow closer. My heart begins to race as I try to think of a plan. I could try to hide, but they are way too close to slip away. Then I remember my short cut to the bakery! There are enough twists and turns no one could follow me. I subtly pick up my walking pace, but I hear the footsteps pick-up too.

'Screw subtlety,' I think and take-off running. There's a shout from the man behind me.

"Hey! Stop!" At that, I break into a full out sprint and run into a dead end alley. There I climb the fire escape, which allows me to cross over the wall to the other end. I jump down and wiggle through a small hole in another wall that lets me out two blocks south of where I began.

When I finally stand up, my legs and lungs are burning from the sudden effort and I have to catch my breath. The sight of the bakery just across the street calms me a bit and I walk at a more leisurely pace out of the alley. Suddenly a hand grabs me and pulls me away from the street. Terror clinches me as I'm spun around and forced to look at the man who has been following me.


End file.
